27 lgbt + themed applications have been removed from the Chinese App Store

27 lgbt + themed applications have been removed from the Chinese App Store

The fact, which emerges from a recent report, could be due both to Apple's willingness to comply with the Chinese government's requests and to the fear of the developers themselves

(photo: Unsplash) They have disappeared from the Chinese App store 27 applications related to the lgbt + community. This was revealed in a report released Monday and the result of joint research by Fight for the Future, a US-based digital rights advocacy group, and GreatFire, based in China. Is censorship involved or do we need to look for other explanations?

What emerges from what emerges this disappearance would be due to the combination of two factors: Apple's willingness to satisfy the request of the Chinese government and the fear of the developers of applications that have preemptively chosen not to make them available in China.

The report, which extends its research to 152 countries around the world, noted that only Saudi Arabia is ahead of China for lgbt + apps not available in their App store, with 28. In the Gulf monarchy, however, homosexuality is criminalized, unlike in China.

According to Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, and musician and Boston-based transgender writer "Apple is using rainbow flags in its marketing operations in the United States, but in the meantime it is actively helping governments around the world isolate, silence and oppress LGBT + people."

An app not available in a country no It does not necessarily mean that Apple has censored it. It may have been the developer who decided not to make it available in that country fearing it could cause problems and get the entire app in trouble, even in other states.

An Apple spokesperson told Protocol that Apple has not removed the lgbt + apps cited in the report as unavailable in China. The spokesperson confirmed that app owners often make a conscious decision not to make their app available in certain countries.

Benjamin Ismail, GreatFire campaign and advocacy director and Apple Censorship project coordinator, explained that their research did not count the apps removed by their developers but added that it is much more likely that it was Apple who decided to remove the apps.

“The few developers who spoke to us there they said when they learned that the app was not available, they didn't try to discuss it with Apple, thinking nothing would change, ”Ismail said.


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China lgbt + globalData.fldTopic = "China, lgbt +"

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